1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a display apparatus equipped with image pickup apparatus suitable for real time bidirectional communication such as a videophone.
2. Description of the Related Art
In recent years, real time bidirectional communication such as a videophone have become available owing to remarkable development of communication network. The videophone includes an image pickup unit that converts an object image into an electric image signal and a display unit that converts the electric image signal into an optical signal and displays the optical signal. A user of the videophone has a conversation while viewing a face of the other party projected on a screen of the display unit. At the same time, the face of the user is picked up by the image pickup unit, and is sent to the other side, after being converted into the electric signal. However, in equipment used for bidirectional communication such as the conventional TV videophone, the image pickup unit is provided adjoining to the display unit or as a separate independent device, and results in picking up a recipient who is viewing the display unit from an oblique direction. Therefore, there is a problem that a line of sight of a face of the other party projected on the display unit is directed toward different point, and there is awkwardness even when two parties are mutually talking, and there is feeling of strangeness as compared with face-to-face talking. In addition, there is another problem that there is the need to separately manufacture and assemble an image pickup apparatus and a display apparatus, or configure the both devices as discreet apparatuses, and thus manufacturing cost becomes high.
Thus, the present applicant discusses in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2005-176151 a display apparatus equipped with image pickup apparatus including a display unit that includes a plurality of display pixels and light shielding members arranged between respective display pixels of the plurality of display pixels, and an image pickup unit arranged in the rear of the display unit. Then, the display apparatus includes an opening at a portion of the light shielding members for guiding a light to the image pickup unit, and the image pickup unit includes an image forming unit at a position corresponding to the opening.
The display apparatus equipped with the image pickup apparatus in the above-described patent enables image pickup while the user is viewing the display unit, and enables coming eye to eye with the other party displayed on the display unit. Further, the entire device will no more grow in size by providing a thin image pickup unit on the front surface of the display unit.
However, a position of face of the other party projected on the screen of the display unit does not necessarily correspond to a position of the image pickup unit arranged within the screen. Further, the position of the user who looks at the face of the other party projected at a position deviated relative to the position of the image pickup unit arranged within the screen of the display unit, may be deviated in some cases to coincide with the position of the face of the other party.
FIG. 7 is a top plan view illustrating a deviation between a direction of a line of sight of a user who gazes a display unit such as a videophone and a direction of an image pickup unit. In FIG. 7, a display panel 20 serves as a display unit at which a user 10 looks, and a camera 5 serves as an image pickup unit. Further, a x mark 11 indicates a position of the face of the other party displayed on the display panel 20.
FIG. 7 is an explanatory view of a conventional display apparatus equipped with image pickup apparatus, and the camera 5 that shoots the user is incorporated into the display panel 20. In FIG. 7, a face 11 of the other party is displayed at a position (position indicated by the x mark in FIG. 7) deviated in the −x direction (horizontal direction) in FIG. 7 relative to the position of the camera 5, and the user 10 gazes the face 11 of the other party from a position deviated from an optical axis (z-axis) of the camera 5. In that process, the shooting direction in which the camera 5 shoots the user 10 and the line of sight direction of the user 10 are deviated by a predetermined angle θ. When the angle θ is large, a person at the other side of the videophone who looks at an image of the user shot by the camera 5 recognizes that the user is having a conversation without looking at his or her face.
To make the person of the other side the videophone who has looked at the image of the user shot by the camera 5 to recognize that the user is looking at him or her, the angle θ formed by the shooting direction in which the camera 5 shoots the user 10 and the line of sight direction of the user 10 needs to be reduced.
To reduce the angle θ formed by the shooting direction in which the camera 5 shoots the user 10 and the line of sight direction of the user 10, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2005-176151 discusses a technique in which a plurality of cameras 5 is arranged on the display panel 20. By doing so, the angle θ formed by the shooting direction in which the camera 5 that is one set of the plurality of cameras shoots the user 10 and the line of sight direction of the user 10 becomes smaller, and the person of the other side who has looked at the image of the user shot by the camera 5 becomes able to recognize that the user is looking at him or her.
However, to reduce the angle θ formed by the line of sight direction of the user 10 who gazes the person of the other side displayed at any given position of the display panel 20 and the shooting direction in which the camera 5 shoots the user 10, a lot of cameras 5 needs to be arranged near the rear surface of the display panel 20. As a result, there is a drawback that it incurs manufacturing cost.